Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-07-02
meAb,ur Peter TO Pay Paul.


: ReAbing Peter TO Pay Paul.
Il is pleasant to see how gracefully
oar Republican contemporary, the Ecen'
ing Express, glides into the Democratic
fold. and eloquently expounds and de-
1snds cardinal tenet Of the doctrines OF
He Democratic party. The American
Industrial League, an organization, we
take it. having for its object the revival
4 American maritime commerce, by
sscu ring subsidy from the Government
Of 50 cents per ton for every thousand
niles sailed or steamed by American
bai!t vessels trading with foreign ports.
This demand is treated by our esteemed
contemporary as q most audacious ana
prssu mptuous attempt by the builders
end owners Of American vessels TO make
. freebootipg raid upon the Treasury at
the expense Of all other classes.
ssThere is no more reason, says the
Indignant Express, 'why the United
Nta tes Government should pay 80 cents
nor ton to the owners Of such vessels for
all the freight they might carry than
that it should pay similar bounty TOR
AL freight carried on donkeys from
Kan sas City 10 San Francisco. Our
neighbor has here clarified and rem
defed comprehensive to the humblest
understanding great fundamental
principle, which has heretofore been OBJ
scured by less perspicacious interpre-
ters. As q matter of cold constitutional
right, the Government has no more au'
thority from the organic compact to pay
shipo wners 30 ctnts per ton per l,OOO
m lies than it has to give a subsidy in
the shape of high tariff to the mill own
ers Of Lowell, or to the coal mine
proprietors of Scranton. To pay such
bounty as the one proposed, L.
we are tersely told by our
evening contemporary, nothing more
NOR less than to take the money out OF
ON 9 mans pocket to put it in another's.
The Democratic party has always con-
tended that high tariff on imports oper'
ates exactly in this way. The consumer
is hereby made to pay twice as much
for the protected articles of Eastern
manufacturers as he would have to pay
if the tariff were so adjusted as to simply
exclude foreign manufactures by an i'm
post based upon just principles. A
{ ariff " hich enables manufacturers to
reap enormous profits upon their goods,
o perates exactly as our neighbor says
tn is proposed bounty would operate. 1t
robs Peter to pay Paul. The Democratic
p olicy does not pretend to run the prin-
ciple to the logical extent of free trade;
but /. insists that it shall stop at protec-
tion to home industries alone. When.
ever it goes above the level at
W hich it simply excludes foreign articles,
it CO mmits the very ofense that excites
our neighbor's indignation against the
proposed bounty to American bottoms.
II robs the people who are not engaged
in manufactures in order to enrich those
who are. The great agricultural classes
of the United States are specially vic
timized by the carrying out of this un-
fair principle. But let us 60 farther, and
see why it is that American ships can
not be built in competition with Euro.
pean ships. The Eapress tells US that it
is because the raw material is cheaper in
Europe. Is it possible that the United
States with her great forests for spars
and hulls, and her exhaustless mines of
iron, cannot furnish the raw material as
cheaply as Europe, which is
compelled TO import from Ameri.
ca all the timber she uses in
the bvilding of ships? That is simply
ridiculous. The real reason is that by |
continuing a war tax upon nearly every |
article that enters into the building and |
equipment Of ships. we have rendered it
impossible for our builders to success
fully compete with foreign sbipyards.
But after all, there are other weighty |
reasons that leave us in the background
as ship building nation. Great Britain |
has pursued policy directly opposite to |
ours with reference to shipping. We
have weighed it down with internal
taxes and external tariffs; they have re.
lieved maritime commerce of all taxa
tion that would prove in the least dis
couraging. We have steadily refused
to encourage our merchant marine by
subsidies; Great Britain has granted
lavish subsidies to lines of steamers
to every important part of the
world. Whilst we have done everything
that could depress maritime commerce,
Great Britain has done everything that
would aid and encourage their people in
building it up and expandingit. Before
the war of the Rebellion we were more
than equal on the ocean with Great
Britain; since then, under twenty-five
years Of Republican rule, onr merchant
\arine has been almost swept from the
Z y. Has it ever occurred to our
Spg contemporary that the merchant
service was the nursery of that i